There is little doubt that the Democratic Party of Japan’s Lower House victory and the election of Yukio Hatoyama as prime minister are the most significant political events Japan has experienced in the past 20 years. After decades of behind-closed-doors policymaking and stagnant growth ...

Without a doubt, one of Japan’s most iconic technological achievements of the last century was the bullet train. Ushering in a new era of prosperity and propelling the entire nation to the forefront of modernity, the shinkansen was an unqualified success. It would take ...

For decades, Japan’s military partner of choice has been the United States. The reasons are well known: The influence of the Occupation after World War II and the adoption of an American-style Constitution that put strong restrictions on Japan’s ability to maintain any kind ...

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As GM’s government-imposed deadline approaches Monday, it is highly likely the automaker that once dominated the global market will file for bankruptcy protection just like Chrysler did a few weeks ago. Last year, Toyota overtook GM to become the world’s largest automaker, and its ...

Earlier this month, when many in Japan were enjoying the arrival of spring and the accompanying cherry blossoms, something else was in the sky, something much more dangerous than a warm breeze: a three-stage missile, launched from North Korea. The launch was meant to ...

Forbes recently published its annual list of the world’s billionaires for 2008. The list has shrunk considerably since 2007, when 1,125 people were deemed to have a net worth above $1 billion. This time only around 793 made the cut. Bill Gates returned to ...

S tock markets around the world are really beginning to feel the effects of the financial crisis of 2008, with some industry watchers estimating that as much as $30 trillion of total market capitalization has been lost worldwide since 2007. This is hurting investors ...

Last week, the heads of America’s Big Three automakers were sitting again before a government panel, begging for money to save their companies. This time, the companies were asking for a total injection of some $34 billion — $9 billion more than just two ...

Japan’s firms are on an unprecedented shopping tour overseas. The value of January-October M&As hit a record ¥6.7 trillion, nearly four times more than a year earlier. The largest was Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s $9 billion investment in Morgan Stanley. Another deal was Nomura’s ...

The events of the past weeks and days have dominated headlines and are threatening the world economy. Like so many dominoes, share prices and banks, big and small, have fallen in the United States and Europe, wiping out massive amounts of capital — about ...

While the just completed Beijing Olympics will have meant different things to different people, one thing is certain: A lot of TVs were tuned into the games. And now that the intense viewing of judo, swimming and softball is over, it is quite possible ...

When the Olympic games were awarded to Beijing in 2001, more than a few questions were raised about the host country. It was clear from the start that China was not just making a bid to host a sporting event — it was claiming ...